Chapter 298: Your loneliness is self-inflicted
Being a king is really not easy. You will receive bad news every now and then, and you will encounter bad things at any time and anywhere.
Ulrik really needed to vent - but apart from slashing with his sword, he really had no way to calm down.
Perhaps, the blood shed by the innocent maid who was chopped down could temporarily extinguish the fire in Ulrich's heart.
But this time, the princess is not here, and no one can comfort him.
So, this time, Ulrich roared for a long time like a trapped beast in the garden of the House of Nobles, and his roar could be heard throughout the House of Nobles.
No one dared to enter the garden anymore.
Except for Philina who came to Sarleon City in a dusty manner.
"Ulrich!"
Philina rushed into the garden of the Court of Nobles, calling the king's name.
But after seeing the maid dead in the garden and Ulrich with bloodshot eyes like a beast, the question she had prepared turned into a sad cry: "Are you... crazy too?"
"Sister...I understand my father now...Really, I understand him."
Ulrich was sitting on the ground at this time, wiping the blood off his hands with the hem of his exquisite brocade robe, his tone was unexpectedly calm: "He is not crazy, he is just lonely... as lonely as me."
"Lonely? Then why did you declare Andrew and Amy to be heretics?! Why did you call Godric a traitor?! They are all your relatives!"
Felina suddenly became furious: "Since you are lonely, you should cherish your family even more! You know they were framed!!"
"Yeah... I know. I can even guess that this was something that Brennus asked the Lion Knights to do..."
Ulrich looked at Felina and smiled bitterly: "But, sister, what can I do? Can I ignore the Lion Knights and all the nobles in the northern region? In that case, will the Lion Knights still obey my command?"
"So what?! Even without the Lion Knights, Godric will still be loyal to the kingdom! Amy and Andrew will also be loyal to the kingdom! They can defend you against any powerful enemy!"
Philina yelled angrily.
"Yes, they will be loyal to the kingdom... but they will not be loyal to me. Sister, your husband and children will only be loyal to you - they have killed too many Lion Knights, there is no turning back. Sister, now they can only kill me and then help you to the Silver Throne..."
Ulrich looked at Felina steadily and said softly, "Your father, my uncle, was the heir recognized by all the nobles back then... Sister, you could have been the queen! Andrew and Amy are also fully qualified to inherit the throne!"
Philina's face changed drastically. She took two steps back, as if she didn't recognize her brother at all. She looked at Ulrich carefully again.
"Ulric... I know your princess is pregnant, and I understand why you did this... But my family has no interest in the throne. I just hope they are all alive and well, that's all - you are also my family, and I hope you will always be alive and well too!"
Philina said this very seriously, and it must have come from the bottom of her heart.
"I believe you, of course I believe you, sister... You put me on the throne back then, so of course you won't fight with me now. But you also know, sister, this kind of thing is not something you can just not fight for - those nobles who follow Andrew, those knights who follow Godric, and those ambitious people hiding in the dark... They will all fight in your name! I didn't want to fight for that cold throne back then, but what was the result? You know, it was you who told me back then - I can only sit on the Silver Throne, otherwise you and I will die!"
Ulrich sat on the ground, his tone was light and calm: "Just like now... If I don't clear the obstacles for my unborn child, then I'm sure he won't even be able to be born smoothly..."
"...I understand that you want the princess' child to be the only heir. But why did you adopt Malbert as your son before? You are asking for trouble!"
Philina looked at Ulrich hesitantly.
"Sister, that was when I was recovering from my illness. I wasn't sure if I could cure it... I made Malbert my adopted son and kept him out in the open because I wanted to protect you and Andrew from being murdered..."
Ulrich shook his head: "But who would have known that my illness was cured by the princess, and not long after that she became pregnant!"
"In that case, you can exile me, Amy and Andrew now, and our whole family can leave this continent far away! You don't have to label Amy and Andrew as heretics!"
Philina was stunned for a moment, and her tone became miserable.
"Sister... don't you understand? Only by making them heretics can their lives be saved! Other crimes will not make them lose the legal right to inherit the throne..."
Ulrich sighed, "I have ordered Count Leon to attack them. I know Leon will protect them. He looks so much like Leonardo, and he was close to Godric and Amy. Of course I can guess whose child Leon is. You know, I admired the Blood Lion Knight Leonardo very much back then..."
"...Ulrich, I understand your thoughts. But the problem is that you can't understand us, and you don't understand Count Leon ..."
Filina also sighed deeply: "You have always admired Leonardo when you were a child, but you have forgotten what kind of person the Blood Lion Knight is! How could his son sit by and watch his friend being framed as a heretic? You will be in big trouble..."
"I've been facing big troubles all my life..."
Ulrich stood up, hugged Felina, and leaned his head on Felina's shoulder like he did when he was a child: "I'm sorry, sister. No matter what, I have to see my child born, and I have to stay with the Lion Knights to protect him as he grows up. I have to lock you up in the tower of the Noble Court... But I promise that your husband and children will not die."
Felina stretched out her hand and pushed Ulrich away, her tone cold: "Maybe... But, Ulrich, everyone in my Crow Village has been slaughtered! They have experienced the Red Death, war, and the destruction of heresy, and they have survived... But now, they did nothing, but were slaughtered by your Lion Knights! Ulrich, you have children, and so do they!!"
Ulrich was stunned.
Felina turned around expressionlessly and walked towards the tower of the House of Nobles: "Your loneliness is your own fault! Your Lion Knights will also be destroyed! I will watch everything from the tower of the House of Nobles!"
…
After returning to the throne room, King Ulrik was no longer calm, and his whole body was filled with hostility.
His peace is only directed towards relatives like Philina.
As Felina said, Ulrich was in big trouble.
The matter between Godric and Amy has not been resolved yet, and the Lion Knights have been dragged to Weird Fox Town and will not be able to return for a while;
Malbert became a rebel again and defected to the Bacchus Empire, and even became the northern governor of the Bacchus Empire. The Sava River Castle fell into the hands of the Bacchus Empire again, and the southern gate of the kingdom was wide open.
The Qicha Fortress has not been rebuilt yet, and now only a large area of charred ruins remains, which is unable to stop any enemy.
If the Bacchus Empire launches an attack, Sarleon City will become a battlefield.
According to the military report that just arrived, a cavalry unit of Emperor Marius even paraded around the Qicha Fortress in a swaggering manner - this was definitely not to visit Agathon's achievements, but to show off their strength and intimidate the Fierce Lion City!
At this time, Leon's foreign affairs officer Sarah was formally meeting the king in the throne room.
This difficult woman asked many difficult questions...
"Your Majesty, now that Sava River Fort has changed and the Bacchus Empire is eyeing it covetously, Lord Leon has entrusted me to ask you for instructions - should the army in the eastern part of the kingdom immediately go to Guihu Town to eliminate the heretics, or go to Sava River Fort to kill the traitor Malbert?"
"In addition, news came from Brave Shield Castle that there were unusual movements in the northeast of the kingdom, and the Jatu people seemed to have revived..."
"There is also news from Dark Falcon Castle. The Kingdom of Ravenstern seems to be preparing to march to the north of the kingdom. They seem to have learned that Lord Godric's troops are not in Eagle Claw Castle. The northern part of the kingdom is currently extremely empty..."
Sarah had been very polite in conveying the information, but her words made the officials in the throne room break out in cold sweats - these things sounded as if the kingdom was in turmoil and was about to be destroyed.
"...Leon is the chief of the East, and he makes all military decisions himself!"
Ulrich really didn't know how to respond, so he could only grit his teeth and tell Leon to figure it out himself.
But he knew in his heart that the situation was not that serious.
It may be true that Malbert rebelled.
After all, Ulrich had just ordered Malbert to pay back the huge sum of money not long ago, and got back 700,000 dinars from Brunus and Malbert - including the principal and interest.
It is indeed possible that Malbert was resentful because of this. In addition, after the princess became pregnant, he knew that it was impossible for him to inherit the throne, so it is possible that he would betray his country and surrender to the enemy.
But Ulrich was well aware that the Bacchus Empire would not launch a large-scale attack in a short period of time.
"Your Majesty... Lord Leon hopes to get some clear instructions - is Duke Brunus trustworthy at the moment? Can Marshal Leon call on the troops in Cliff Bay to cooperate in the battle?"
Sarah asked an even more difficult question...
Say it's trustworthy?
Then Leon would definitely issue a marshal's order to recruit Brunus's troops to attack the Sava River Fort, or even directly let Brunus go to attack his son Malbert... It would be reasonable to suppress rebellion.
Saying it's not trustworthy?
That's it. If the Grand Master of the Lion Knights is not trustworthy, then how can the other Lion Knights be trusted?
What would the Lion Knights think?
The entire Lion Knights might be gone...
"Ah... a headache... let's talk about this another day! Let Li Ang leave quickly and solve the heresy first before considering other issues!"
Ulrik simply claimed to be ill and ran away, but the historian in the throne room still faithfully recorded everything.
…
In fact, Li Ang's troops had already set off.
Moreover, the troops were divided into several groups and set out to different places.
While Sarah was meeting Ulrich, Klose had already arrived near Weird Fox Town with the Silver Hand.
The name of Guihu Town is actually worthy of its name, because there are indeed many foxes here.
But the reason for its name is not because of the fox, but because of the dense woods next to Guihu Town and the roads in the woods.
This road connects Qiaoyan Bay, Lion Lake City and Fierce Lion City. It is an important transportation route with many business travelers passing by.
The three-way intersection leading to the three major cities happened to be located in a dense forest, and only human silhouettes could be seen even during the day - there was no doubt that this was a good place to attack with a club and ambush.
Therefore, many years ago, there was a group of very famous robbers here. They called themselves "Strange Foxes" and their whereabouts were indeed secretive. They had been committing crimes in this forest.
Since many businessmen and travelers had been robbed by them in the dense forest, a good habit gradually formed in this area - before entering the woods, they would first form a group in a small village at the edge of the woods, and then set off when there were enough people.
As a result, many taverns and inns gradually appeared in the small village next to the woods, and it quickly developed into a big town.
This town was named Guihu Town.
When Weird Fox Town developed, the robbers who called themselves "Weird Foxes" in the dense forest disappeared...
Then some people realized that the robbers might have been the lords of the small village.
In order to make the village prosperous quickly, he led people to commit crimes in the woods, forcing the passing merchants to stay in the village...
This Guihu Town has been full of intrigue since its inception.
And now, many strange figures have appeared again in the dense forest next to Guihu Town.
Those were the Fallen, and there were quite a few of them, roaming the woods.
Since Granlong said that his flag guard was ambushed by the Fallen in the woods, Klose was very cautious and did not dare to enter the woods rashly.
In addition, he didn't want to waste time, so Klose planned to take a detour through the wild and go directly into Guihu Town.
But what was unexpected was that even though Klose took a detour from the south of the woods, he was still blocked...
Those Fallen seemed to have opened their third eyes and accurately determined Klose's route of advance. They appeared in the wilderness south of the woods, blocked the Silver Hand right in front of them, and formed an array.
A dozen miles behind the Fallen Array is Guihu Town.
The detour through the wilderness was blocked, which made Klose a little confused - these Fallen had the ability to execute tactics, and they were very quiet!
Yes, this was a large group of silent monsters, with no skin on their bodies, their eyeballs and gums exposed, their reddish-brown muscles exposed, their blood probably coagulated, and occasionally you could see white tendons.
They... or rather, they, all held swords and shields in their hands, and their ranks were even quite neat, and they did not launch random attacks. They looked like a well-trained army.
Fortunately, the number was not too large, about three hundred Fallen, and there was no one who looked like a leader - they were all these skinless monsters with big red eyes, and they all looked the same.
The troops brought by Klose numbered 1,300 people - including 300 people from the 'Silver Hand' and 1,000 people from the 'Free Legion'.
The number of enemies is only a fraction of his own, and they are blocking the way ahead, so he must fight. Moreover, Klose is not afraid of such monsters in the wilderness - he has seen them outside Changhe Town. At that time, the fallen ones summoned by the three prophets had basically no advantages except their great strength .
Although what we are facing now seems a little different, the monsters standing in formation and not moving on the opposite side seem to be able to obey orders, but they are just a group of walking corpses who have lost their souls anyway.
"Surround them!"
Klose led his team to directly use the three-sided encirclement of the infantry, which was what the Mettenheim people were good at. This was a very effective attack method for the infantry in medium-scale combat, especially when the enemy had fewer people than themselves.
But what was unexpected was that the well-equipped Silver Hand suffered a heavy loss in the first wave of attack led by a tough guy like Klose!
